An open letter to the clubbing community.

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Below is a letter I have written in lieu of recent negative media coverage concerning Ecstasy and our club scene. Please read and post any thoughts.

Ladies & Gentleman,

I address you as such because sometimes we have to be reminded that we are adults in every aspect of the word. Yes, we all like to become kids again from 9-5 on Friday and Saturday night, but we must start caring about what goes on in our local Government from 9-5 Monday through Friday. Recently, there has been a lot of media coverage of our club scene here in South Florida and across the Country. Unfortunately, the majority of the coverage, especially on the “Corporate” Network’s has been negative. Do not underestimate the power of the media in this day and age. With nothing but negative media coverage, anyone 30 years old or older who isn’t involved in the club scene will begin to take action. Because that’s what you do in this Country when you are unhappy about something. You complain to City Hall about it until they push for legislature that gets voted on at a meeting attended by the affected community and now no one under 21 can party in Ft. Lauderdale. I hope my point has been made. These laws aren’t drawn up randomly people. We have the same opportunities as those enacting these laws against us. I guarantee you that had I known about the proposed Under 21 Ban in Ft. Lauderdale, I would have shown up to a meeting to at least speak my peace. And hey, maybe I would have brought a few friends along to strengthen my presence. Maybe if a committee had been formed prior to the vote, we could have filled City Hall with more people against the ban, rather than for it. We need to wake up people and begin to take responsibility for our future. Trust me, the retirement community knows this more any other group. I recently read an article written by Eloy Velazquez of Madsounds.com. Here is a portion of that article.

“…the only people who care about the elderly are the politicians. “Why?” He exclaimed, “Well, that answer is simple. They vote! They vote in large numbers. In case you haven’t notice, none of the issues that are being debated today have anything to do with us, young people. Instead, it is about tax reform, Medicare, and social security.” When he asked several elderly people at a home he recently visited, “Why do you vote when all you do is stay in a nursing home?” The reply they gave was equivocal and immediate. “We vote because it is our right and our privilege.” When he asked one elderly man in particular why he voted, he said, “Never again will I make the same mistake twice. I lived in Germany when the elections were held in 1932. Most of the people didn’t vote and just stayed home. That is why Hitler came to power.”

We cannot afford to just sit back and expect the system to keep running without us interacting with it. That seemed fine when I was 18, 19 20 years old, but in 20 years…we will be that system. It’s up to us to decide who is going to speak for us. The only positive media coverage you will find concerning our club scene is on local cable access channels. Think about it. Anything on TV nowadays is “brought to you by Corporate America.” As I am writing this, CBS is airing a segment on 48hrs concerning Ecstasy. Following on the heels of Wednesday nights (ABC) Channel 10 News’ self proclaimed, “objective” hidden camera expose on our club scene (Space) and ecstasy, that aforementioned demographic will be reached in massive numbers. You can bet they’ll be taking action. Will we? We have all enjoyed going out every weekend for years and having many options to choose from. Of course, now if you’re under 21 in Ft. Lauderdale, you have no options. If you think our options are safe, think again. There are organizations that are trying to help, Dancesafe.Org being one of them. Dancesafe provides free pill testing at numerous events across the country thanks to the help of local volunteer chapters. Unfortunately, media coverage of these kinds of groups is never presented in a positive light if they are presented at all. Think about it. Ecstasy (MDMA), whether you are for it or against it, in it’s purest form, when used safely and in moderation, has not shown to be a dangerous drug. Can the same be said of tobacco? Of course not, tobacco is PROVEN to be addictive AND cause cancer. Are we being told that we can’t smoke tobacco? Not at all. Why? Big Tobacco & Big Government make billions of dollars annually, with thousands of new consumers every day. Yet Phillip Morris, one of Big Tobacco’s largest companies, can launch AD campaigns that promote Youth Smoking Prevention. That’s like a prostitute promoting abstinence. It’s perverse. Let’s talk about another legal option, Alcohol. Government doesn’t mind us consuming large amounts of this stuff on a regular basis. Why? It gets taxed and they make a lot of money. And nothing bad happens from drinking too much alcohol, right? Apparently not if programs like “Know when to say when” and “Think before you drink” are needed. Why then is Dancesafe so criticized for their program? We need to organize as clubbers, drug-users or not, in an effort to be recognized as the educated and large numbered group that we are. Think about it, Miami, NY, LA, Chicago, D.C. and every other buzzing metropolis around our Country. There is strength in numbers. Let’s show everyone just how strong we are.

I scream I scream so much you know what I mean, this electric stream, my tears in league with wires and energy, my machine this is my beautiful dream dream dream, Of hurting no one, hurting no one, hurting no one, I'm hurting no one I wanna give you everything I wanna give you energy, I wanna give a good thing I wanna give you everything

-underworld

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What's up? Ok, I am going to give you my honest opinion, ok. Your letter tries to sell the fact that e isn't as bad or not much worse than cigarettes and other things. To defend the scene, you don't go and talk illegal drugs and justify them... anybody you are trying to influence will have a closed mind... what you need to do bro is talk about stuff that they feel passionate about and get them to side with you first... so you are a friend to them, your alterior motive may include other things but you have to find a common ground to fight first... then they will look the other way when other things are happening BECAUSE "people hate to be wrong about anything" They will defend their stance just to protect their side. The short of it is once you have a friend, they don't want to feel like they make a bad choice making you their friend so they will defend THAT choice when some of the negative comes out in say e use in clubs or other things. They look the other way or at the very least, they propagate your good things and what is not happening there like drunk driving stuff and the sorts.

I am a professional and people are sold using this techniques all the time.

Other than that, I voice your opinion, you are completely right in all the things you said but among ourselves, that letter is good, to an outsider, it is a druggie defending his stance and tryng to comvince me of it... UNDERSTAND???